Meta and Microsoft have ‘X’ registered, new Twitter name – 07/25/2023 – Tech

Billionaire Elon Musk’s decision to rebrand Twitter to ‘X’ could be complicated from a legal point of view: companies like Meta and Microsoft already have intellectual property rights over the same letter.

The X is so widely used and referenced in trademarks that it is a candidate for legal challenges. The company formerly known as Twitter may face its own problems defending its brand in the future.

“There’s a 100% chance that Twitter will be sued by someone over this,” said trademark attorney Josh Gerben, who said he counted nearly 900 active U.S. trademark registrations that already cover the letter X in a wide range of industries.

Musk renamed Twitter “X” on Monday and unveiled a new logo for the social media platform, a stylized black and white version of the letter.

Owners of trademarks—which protect things like brand names, logos, and slogans that identify product sources—can claim infringement if another mark causes consumer confusion. Remedial measures range from monetary damages to blocking use.

Since 2003, Microsoft has owned an X trademark relating to communications about its Xbox video game. Meta — whose Threads platform is a new rival to Twitter — has a US trademark registered in 2019 that encompasses a blue and white letter “X” for fields that include software and social media.

Meta and Microsoft likely won’t sue unless they feel threatened by Twitter’s X invading the brand equity they’ve built with the letter, Gerben said.

Sought, the three companies did not respond so far.

Meta itself faced intellectual property challenges when it changed its name from Facebook. It faces trademark lawsuits filed last year by investment firm Metacapital and virtual reality firm MetaX, and has settled another lawsuit over its new infinity logo.

If Musk manages to change the name, others will still be able to claim the “X” for themselves.

“Given the difficulty of protecting a single letter, especially one as commercially popular as ‘X’, Twitter’s protection will likely be limited to graphics very similar to its X logo,” said Douglas Masters, trademark attorney at law firm Loeb & Loeb.

“The logo is not very distinctive, so protection will be very limited.”